ATTOCK: Attock, Quetta, Sargodha and Multan won the opening encounters in the National Bank of Pakistan T-20 Blind Cricket Trophy 2019 (Grade-2) which commenced here on Wednesday.

In the first match, Attock beat Abbottabad by 74 runs at the Attock Cricket Stadium. Attock won the toss and decided to bat first. Their openers Ahtesham and Muhammad Bilal batted superbly to flatten the Abbottabad bowling attack who failed to get a single wicket of the rival team. Both the openers put up a huge, unbeaten stand of 286 in the allotted 20 overs. Ahtesham scored a brilliant unbeaten 150 runs off just 74 balls while Bilal made 87 runs not out off 60 balls. In the second match of the day played between Faisalabad and Quetta at theComsats University Cricket Ground, Quetta won by 6 wickets. Quetta won the toss and decided to bowl first. Faisalabad posted 213 for the loss of 4 wickets in stipulated 20 overs with Ijaz Ali being their star with a fluent 104 runs off just 57 balls and Bilal Hasan scoring a breezy 38.

Quetta in reply chased the target quite easily in the 19th over for the loss of 4 wickets. Naimatullah Khan scored an unbeaten 86 and Abdul Rasheed made 49 not out. Noman, Sanaullah and Danish Ali claimed a wicket apiece. Naimatullah was named Man of the Match.

Sargodha beat Hyderabad by ten wickets in the third match played at the Attock Cricket Stadium. Sargodha won the toss and decided to bowl first. Hyderabad made 180 runs for the loss of 5 wickets in the allotted 20 overs. Amjad Ali made 66 runs.

Sargodha in reply chased down the target in just 8 overs without any loss. Gul Sheer smashed a fantastic, unbeaten 108 off just 38 balls to enthrall the crowd. Zain was the other player who remained unbeaten on 43. Gul Sheer was Man of the Match.

In the fourth match of the day, Multan beat Sheikopura by 129 runs at Comsats University Ground). Multan won the toss and decided to bat first to scoore a sizeable 301 runs in stipulated 20 overs for the loss of 3 wickets. Muhammad Safdar played brilliantly for his 115 off a mere 40 balls, Hafiz Razzaq scored 52 runs off 24 balls and Akbar made 61 off 31 balls.

Sheikopura in reply made 172 for the loss of 5 wickets in stipulated 20 overs. Imanullah was their best scorer with 41 runs. Abdul Razzaq took 2 wickets while Akbar, Shahbaz and Saleem claimed a wicket each. safdar was named Man of the Match.

Ali Hasan Qamar, Deputy Commissioner Attock, Akhtar Munir, Regional Head NBP and Syed Sultan Shah, Chairman Pakistan Blind Cricket Council inaugurated the event.

Published in Dawn, December 19th, 2019